A review by angela_reads
The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami

3.5

There were times when I felt as if I were there, eating my noodles at the kotatsu in the back room of the shop, wandering around the streets until l end up getting home, or taking a bite of some pies from Posy. 

I really loved the first half of the book for the charm of a simple budding love-not in the cheesy, over-the-top kind of way—but in the stillness of each other's company.

Things unfortunately became unexciting and somewhat lackluster toward the latter half of the book. While Kawakami did a wonderful job unwrapping this ordinariness in life, the earlier build up made me expect more. Things seemed to just move as they're told and my fondness for the narrative died down a bit. 

I must say, the writer did such a great job writing all characters but one. Takeo, Mr. Nakano, and Masayo— couldn't help but smile at their little quirks and mannerisms. I felt I knew them enough as that boundary between friends and acquaintances. I definitely missed everyone at the shop the moment I closed this book.

I think that the protagonist, however, fell a bit flat. Hitomi's words and actions seemed random and misplaced to me—l couldn't figure out what she was supposed to be like beyond adopting Takeo's way of repeating words. Her personality: almost non-existent. In all honesty, there were some bits about her inner thoughts and frustrations that were relatable, which is why it took long for me to realize how much of a shell she remained in the 260 pages of the book. Hmm.. could she have intentionally been written as a one-size-fits-all character? The narration's in her voice after all.

Despite all the semi-let-downs, I really enjoyed this book. It would be fun to do a feminist reading on this book someday—especially on Mr. Nakano, who I see as that old man that has internalized and perpetuated sexist micro aggressions but is so hard to call out. Overall, I really enjoyed this book (and Strange Weather in Tokyo), so I'm excited to read more of this author's works!